With reopened golf course on hold, Columbia County neighborhood proposes new private pool

A Columbia County golf community, with its 18-hole golf course closed, is pivoting toward transforming its pool area into its No. 1 amenity.

The Jones Creek Homeowners Association in Evans is asking Columbia County to grant new buffer and setback standards when it demolishes and rebuilds a pool house that residents say has become too small and isn’t up to code.

“It’s just old – 35, 38 years old,” said Tripp Nanney, the HOA’s president. “We had a terrible inspection report on it. The roof, some rotten wood that needed to be replaced. Shingles falling apart.”

The pool house’s restrooms and the steep entry sidewalk to the pool area do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which governs the public accommodation of everyday activities by people with disabilities.

A main reason for the rebuild is that the pool needs more pumps and other equipment to function properly. The building’s block walls and stucco exterior also show signs of extensive wear.

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Barring unforeseen circumstances, construction could start around Labor Day, Nanney said.

Jones Creek Golf Club, which opened in the mid-1980s, closed in September 2018. In 2019 the course’s clubhouse and adjoining parking lot was purchased by a homebuilder who rented the building to a catering business while the course itself, still seeking a new owner, fell into disuse and later foreclosure. The course failed to sell at public auction in October 2020.

With the clubhouse legally separate from the golf course, the building’s conspicuous absence had made the course difficult to sell.

Former PGA golf pro Andrew Brooks, founder and owner of event services company Bond Global Golf, opened the Practice Club at Jones Creek during Masters Week 2023. The range includes 16 hitting bays, half of them covered, and two practice suites.

Brooks said the range marks a necessary first step toward completely reopening the course, though no firm timetable has been set.

The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the pool house request at its next meeting Aug. 1.